7.1

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of our current systems to respond to a crisis on a global scale.

How can the world be better prepared for such crises in the future?

Presenting a common international front is important to ensure the provision of public goods and manage the world’s resources in an equitable way.

Graphic of a globe with words Common International Front

Failing to do so has led to the current discrepancy in COVID-19 vaccination rates between developed and developing countries and the exacerbation of pre-existing inequalities.

Achieving a common front will require a rethinking of the way policies are framed, shifting away from the view of policymaking as course correcting and addressing market failures, and moving towards a system of decision-making and policy formulation that begins with the common good as the overarching objective and builds achievement of that objective into the systems of design, financing and delivery of policies on the ground.

The role of government needs to be revisited at every level. It is insufficient for governments to merely regulate. The key to elevating the common good is in the negotiation of policies and practices.

Public and private actors need to build a new set of rules that incorporate strong conditionalities to protect public interests, particularly in times of crisis. For example, in vaccine development, disparate approaches were taken in negotiating the terms of production, provision and procurement of the vaccines. Researchers behind one vaccine negotiated with the producer on its terms, such as those related to the price-control distribution mechanism, while the approach with another was more hands off.

There is a need for the UN to “call out” examples of bad practices and advocate for policies where we can do better, not only at the higher level, but also at the micro level, to reshape the narrative and guide more collaborative thinking. Relatedly, there is a need to revisit the current state of intellectual property rights (IPRs) of common goods critical in emergency situations.

The international community also needs to shift from being ‘reactive’ to being more ‘proactive’. Pandemics tend to accelerate the future. The uptick in digitalization in the current pandemic is a telling example that has laid bare the huge disparity between developed and developing countries.

There is an urgent need to strengthen regional capacities for surveillance so that we can identify and respond, rather than react. For example, the vaccine situation in Africa would not be as it is if the region had the capacity to contribute to the production process. Unless there is a conscious effort to actively support knowledge development across the world, the situation cannot be improved and will continually lead to global-level failures.

7.2

How can the world make the move away from short-termism towards long-term thinking in building future-oriented policies and cooperation mechanisms?

Focusing on the common good to shape preparedness requires a sharp move away from the dominant short-term thinking in planning and investment.

Graphic of steps with words Long Terms Goals

The short-term incentives for private actors are often not aligned with the medium- or long-term needs and goals of the public. Such short-termism results in actions that often contradict the SDGs.

One example is the overreliance on GDP as the single leading metric to measure economic growth and development. It pushes governments to focus too heavily on GDP growth, including by financing non-sustainable investments to attain GDP growth target numbers.

Financing is essential, but it is not enough. The terms and conditions matter. We need to ensure that financing goes to sustainable investments. Investment must align with our medium-term goals in climate, food, the environment and health care, among others. To achieve this, more intensive public engagement is necessary.

Another key challenge to address short-termism is the short-sighted views of politicians who are too focused on electoral cycles and winning the next election. One alternative option to address such a challenge is to turn to the financial sector, especially those institutions that have a long-term view.

Beyond fiscal alignment, it would be important to determine a set of ‘rationing rules’ that can be a measure or a standard against which to temper fiscal power. These would act as a checklist of ethical standards, of sorts, that kick in in instances of shortage during emergency situations. It would also be good to devise a sort of international ‘insurance system’ with embedded transfer and subsidy design with a future-focused outlook.

Crisis situations may also accelerate innovations as countries need to act swiftly to mitigate the damages and challenges faced, such as Italy’s ability to be self-sufficient in the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) needed by health-care workers, which might have not been the case in a “business-as-usual” situation.

Addressing short-termism

Addressing short-termism is an important point for moving forward. In the context of climate change, we are both shaping and negotiating the future today and the role of the tipping point needs to be addressed if we are to improve capacity for developing countries to advance long-term thinking. Addressing the challenge of climate change also requires a shift in our consumption patterns, and environmental rights, such as those of the Indigenous peoples in the Amazon region, will need to be considered as an integral part of achieving the 2030 Agenda.

It will be important institutionally and systemically to ensure a feedback process for the civil service sector, so that it is provided with space and capacity to experiment to design better public policy measures moving forward. In the context of the ongoing pandemic, some countries have taken advantage of short-term measures to ensure long-term benefits, such as in the case of several European airlines that received bailouts on the condition they would reduce carbon emissions. Any negotiations or interventions by governments need to be made more transparent globally, thereby ensuring more accountability to shape a better and more sustainable trajectory in the long term.

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Members of the second term